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It also announced an operating loss of £961million for 2016, after £880million the year before, while sales slipped to £152million - missing a target of up to £184million that it had already downgraded.

Its shares have slumped more than 92 per cent since it floated on the London Stock Exchange in June 2011, leaving it worth just over £200million from its previous value of £3.1billion.

It marks another fall from grace for Hayward, who famously came under fire in 2010 when he decided to take a day off from dealing with the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, in which 11 people died, to attend a yacht race with his son in the Isle of Wight.

Hayward had initially downplayed the spill – in which more than 200m gallons of crude oil was pumped into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days – saying that the environmental impact would likely be 'very very modest' and calling the spill 'relatively tiny' in comparison with the size of the ocean, before later changing his assessment.

Hayward has also been chairman of troubled mining giant Glencore since 2013, which only restored its dividend this year after nearly being destroyed by debt in 2015.

Genel said that Mr Hayward would step down as chairman and director at the conclusion of its annual general meeting on June 6.

Stephen Whyte, chairman designate, said: 'Genel has operated in a very tough environment in recent years but I believe it has renewed momentum and significant opportunities in the portfolio.

'The fall in oil price impacted the entire industry, and that, coupled with the impact of the war against Islamic State, put pressure on the finances of the already squeezed Kurdistan Regional Government.

'As the environment now improves, I look forward to working with the board to ensure that Genel has the best possible strategy for the future.'

Banking scion Rothschild, a Genel non-executive director, is believed to have had shares in 2012 worth around £190million.

Yesterday, his 7.95pc stake was worth about £18million.

Hayward, who sold 150,000 shares in 2015, now has a stake of roughly 0.5 per cent, worth £1.1million.

Genel has been battered by a combination of the oil price crash, repeated downgrades to its Taq Taq oil field and violence in Iraq and Syria that stretched the resources of the Kurdistan government and delayed payments for oil production.